I am the Woman you Helped before with a Son -- Please Help Once MoreNov 13, 2010

Dr. Bob,
Here I am again,

I am the woman that told you about my son being OCD along with a few other things. I am now have him in therapy for his HIV fears. Thank You for your advice. It seems to be helping. As I told you before, I do not know how to Thank You enough so I am going to make some quarterly donations to your Foundation.

I have again another question. I couldn't find this in your archives. I'm sorry. I hope you can address his situation so I can show him and snap him out of his OCD about this as well.

We went to pick up some food at a Paradise Bakery. Took it home to eat. About 10 minutes went by. My Son found a hair in his food that looked like an eye lash and then another that looked like a pubic hair. The hairs got in his mouth, plus touching the rest of the food he ate. Along with him pulling the hair out of the sandwich with a finger that has about a 5 minute cut on his finger. You guessed it. He is now so upset I have to try to get him back to reality. You seem to help him. Assuming that both these hairs came from somebody who was HIV+ and all these events above took place. In his mouth, which has some bleeding in it, plus his cut finger touching the hairs. What are the chances of him catching the HIV virus from this?

I am very Grateful for your help as right now you and your answers are the only thing my boy can trust and brings him back to reality. And now again he is deeply depressed and scared. He says because he touched everything without having his cut bandaged. Plus some sores in his mouth that bleed. He also brushed his teeth before he ate so his gums bled as well. So with all this exposed cut and mouth problems, what are his chances of catching the HIV virus from the hairs coming from a HIV+ person? What a waste of a good life he can have. I am sure this therapy will help. Plus if I can ask you a question every now and then. I hope you don't mind.

Maybe because of your Greatness and because you are a Wonderful Doctor you do help him a lot.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You are truly a Kind and Compassionate Man.

Respectfully,
Gabriel

Response from Dr. Frascino

Hello Gabriel,

Once again your son's fears are completely irrational and totally unwarranted. HIV cannot be transmitted via hairs in food, even if the hair came from an HIV-positive individual and your son had bleeding cuts in his mouth and on his fingers. Period. By the way, how does one distinguish an eyelash from a pubic hair???? One would think they would look somewhat similar, no? Oh, never mind.

I'm delighted your son is in therapy. That's exactly where he needs to be. You should show these posts and my responses not only to your son, but also to his psychiatrist. Such completely irrational fears are best handled by the mental health professional, not the HIV specialist. Regarding how long it will take for your son's OCD to be brought under control, I have no way of determining that over the Internet. His psychiatrist would be the person to whom you should address that question, as he is the one treating your son for this problem.

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